<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Sean Deveney of Sporting News has insulted Kobe Bryant in the worst way he can think of: he said Kobe's "gone Vince Carter on us". In reacting to the Bryant impersonation of Lindsey Lohan, Deveney says Bryant is "selfish and delusional"...like Carter, the pundits' favorite whipping boy. Deveney also thinks trading for Kidd wouldn't work either.</div> Source Yeah......
He's generalizing, but there are similarities. Both players were stuck in crappy situations (VC's was actually worse than Kobe's). Both players have the same somewhat-selfish goal (go somewhere where they can win), but they went about achieving that goal in different ways (VC halfassed his way to NJ, Kobe's PMS'ing on every media outlet he can find). The biggest difference, in my opinion, is that Kobe's done about as much as he can possibly do to make the team better. Carter never dedicated himself to improvement like Kobe did and he never even tried to be a leader like Kobe has.
I don't really buy any of this bull the media puts out criticizing players for requesting trades, because these same people who are speaking negatively about Kobe are telling KG to do the same thing in Minnesota. I don't like how Kobe is handling this situation, but if its going to get him the help he needs in Los Angeles than it was probably a good move.
These writers have got to stop hating on Vince. Maybe for his horrible play in the playoffs, but everyone needs to put his Toronto days aside and look forward to what he's gonna do next season. Personally, I think that he's gonna come back and play great with a 100 percent effort. But I agree with Chutney, the situations are way different.
The Lakers' management is stupid. They expect teams to hand over JO, Kidd, Artest, Boozer to them without giving up any of their core players. They can't throw in Andrew Bynum for Jason Kidd? I don't care if he has the potential to be the next Kareem (which he definitely doesn't have), you either decide to build now or for the future. You can't keep a guy like Kobe, who's in the top of his prime with an underage kid and expect him to be happy. Kwame, McKie, Mihm, for Kidd? Give me a break. You gotta give something to get something. Nothing worth having comes easy. So I don't hate Kobe for wanting to leave the Lakers. It's obvious that he's given them more chances than they deserve and sat there and took criticism while the blame lies on the management. And this is coming from a guy who doesn't really like Kobe....though I wouldn't be adverse to a sign and trade of Carter, Marcus Williams, and this years 17th pick for Kobe.
<div class="quote_poster">Brian Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Just like Carter, Kobe gave up on his team and only played with 50% effort</div> Que? That better have been sarcasm, lol. Even you should know its a wise move to give up on guys like Smush Parker and Kwame Brown, hahahaha.
<div class="quote_poster">Chutney Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">He's generalizing, but there are similarities. Both players were stuck in crappy situations (VC's was actually worse than Kobe's). Both players have the same somewhat-selfish goal (go somewhere where they can win), but they went about achieving that goal in different ways (VC halfassed his way to NJ, Kobe's PMS'ing on every media outlet he can find). The biggest difference, in my opinion, is that Kobe's done about as much as he can possibly do to make the team better. Carter never dedicated himself to improvement like Kobe did and he never even tried to be a leader like Kobe has.</div> Quoted for truth Anyways, I don't understand why Lakers fans were so hyped about Kidd though, he really wouldn't improve the team as much as people seem to think he would, especially if they're running the triangle. Look, I think Kidd is great, he's a great passer, great rebounding guard (though I think the Lakers are fine on the glass), but he's not giving them consistent shooting or scoring to support Kobe, and his defense is not what it was back in the day. I think it would be one of those get hyped early on, then start hating on Kidd later on that he can't do this or that and isn't helping Kobe.
